


Powers

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: An Epic Love of Time and Space [3]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And It's A Hateful Thing To Suggest We Ever Would, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Humor, We Certainly Don't Have Anything Like That Around These Parts, What Do You Mean Infinity War?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 09:19:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14517330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Even the might of the Guardians of the Galaxy can’t withstand the adorableness of one half-Zehoberian, half-human baby.(Okay, so it’s more like quarter human, quarter insane planet. But Peter and Gamora aren’t going to have that discussion with her until she’s much, much older. For all they know, it might give her ideas.)





	Powers

**Author's Note:**

> In this corner of the fictional universe at least, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the Guardians will be whole, hale and hearty by the end of Avengers 4. EVERY SINGLE ONE, even if I have to go get Death herself and make her help me fix whatever the Russo’s mess ends up looking like on the final count. 
> 
> Until Avengers 4 comes out and I know exactly how much cleanup I have to do, however, have some super-fluffy family fluff.

It wasn’t until he’d had a kid that Peter understood just how awesome taking a nap was.

Because, as it turned out, co-parenting a sapling with a ship full of lunatics wasn’t nearly enough to get you ready for having a tiny lunatic of your very own. Leia Uhura Quill was the greatest child in the entire universe, no question, but even at eight months old she already had Very Specific Views about what she should be doing with her life. Mostly, that involved anything that wasn’t sleeping.

(Which was a _lot_ , especially now that she’d recently learned to crawl. He and Gamora had both vetoed the baby jet pack Rocket kept offering, repeatedly, but as soon as she was old enough to actually _ask_ her Uncle Rocket for it Peter knew the matter would be out of their hands.)

So, in those rare, precious moments when one of the crew could convince their daughter that no, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to be unconscious for a little while, it automatically became Family Nap Time. Leia in her little indestructible crib beside the bed, Peter sprawled across Gamora like a super heavy blanket, and both of their hands dangling into the crib to touch Leia. The Zune was lying on her stomach, earbuds close enough that she could hear the music but not right in her little ears.

Still, growing up on a Ravager ship meant that even deep sleep wasn’t all that deep, and he felt Gamora’s body tense underneath his cheek an instant before he registered the quiet footsteps. He cracked an eye open to see Mantis carefully reaching into Leia’s crib, not even hesitating when she registered Peter and Gamora’s eyes on her. “I need to borrow baby Leia,” she whispered. “I will bring her right back.” Then she hesitated. “Maybe.”

Leia was wide awake now, playing with Mantis’s hair, and Mantis’s antennae glowed as she laughed softly. “You tell the best jokes, Leia,” she said, walking her out of the room.

Peter watched her go, then lifted his head enough to look down at Gamora. They had a brief eyebrow conversation, which roughly translated went something like this.

Peter: “If we stay here, we can go back to sleep.”

Gamora: “If we stay here, we might wake up to explosions and Leia zipping around in her own miniature jet pack.”

Peter: “That is an extremely valid point.”

They rolled out of bed together, hurrying in the direction Mantis had gone. Once they went down a level they could hear the sound of arguing, a massive knock-down, drag-out that seemed to involve… well, everybody (including Kraglin, though he was technically trying to _stop_ the fight). Peter couldn’t actually make out what it was about, since everyone was shouting over each other, but from the sound of things….

Gamora’s brow lowered. “Are they actually fighting about _dinner_?”

Peter sighed. “Yeah, that sounds like them.”

When they actually got there, though, Gamora held out an arm to stop them both. Mantis was in front of them, standing just outside the doorway, and she shifted Leia out of her arms and held her dangling by her armpits like she’d never seen a baby before in her life. Leia giggled, then immediately let out a heartbroken wail designed to tug at the heartstrings of even the coldest, most cynical person around her.

This time, it was Peter’s turn to lower his brow. “I _knew_ she was faking it,” he whispered.

Gamora smiled a little. “She _is_ your daughter.”

In front of them, Mantis marched into the middle of the argument. “Baby Leia is crying,” she announced loudly. “I don’t know what to do.”

Mantis literally had the ability to put a _planet_ to sleep, and even though the power only worked sometimes on Leia she was still the most qualified person on the ship to calm the kid down. (Yes, sometimes Peter worried about the fact that Leia was more resistant to Mantis’s mind trick than Ego had been, but as long as she didn’t suddenly decide that destroying the universe was a good idea they were probably fine.) So the idea that she couldn’t handle a crying Leia… well, as far as lies went, it shouldn’t have worked at _all_.

Somehow, though, not a single person called her on it. Instead, the argument stopped so quickly it sounded like someone had thrown the “off” switch, replaced by Rocket’s exasperated voice. “I _told_ you, Mantis. That’s not how you hold an ape baby. Give her here.”

“Leia is a warrior baby,” Drax cut in. “She needs action to feel better, not cuddling.”

“I am Groot!”

“She is not soft like her father, Groot. She would enjoy The Great Throwing, the same way Kamaria did.”

“I am Groot!”

“The tree’s right.” That was from Nebula, who had miraculously gotten ever-so-slightly less murdery since she’d moved onto the ship. “There will be _no_ throwing of my niece. Besides, she likes music.”

“I could—”

“No Drax, you will not be singing,” Rocket said firmly. “I would rather my eardrums not be bleeding, thank you very much.” Leia had quieted her completely fake cry down to hiccups by this point, and after a second of relative quiet the sound system clicked on. Suddenly, The Spinners “Rubberband Man” filled the air, the volume lower than Rocket usually liked it.

Peter half expected the argument to continue, just at the same lower volume, but all he could hear was cooing murmurs and giggling from Leia. He and Gamora looked at each other, then snuck close enough to peer inside.

Rocket, Drax, Groot and Nebula were all leaning over Leia, wiggling their fingers and making faces in order to keep her giggling. Mantis was slowly backing away, a huge smile on her face as she turned to look at Kraglin. He was backing away as well, giving her a thumbs up – a gesture he’d learned from Peter, for the record – like they were in cahoots about the whole thing.

Next to him, Gamora leaned her head against his shoulder. “Maybe we can risk the jet pack,” she murmured.

He turned to look at her, and slowly they both started to smile. Then, hand in hand, they walked back to their room to squeeze in a little more sleep before things got crazy again.

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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